Request
by Black-Cat-Max
Summary: Set immediately after the Labyrinth episode, Cornelia tries to get Elyon to forgive her for ducking out of their bookstore trip. The result has both girls exploring the meaning of friendship. Shoujo ai inside!
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: Fanfics are like LEGOs, y'know? Even when you build something out of them and

say "I made this", you know that you didn't make the blocks. In plain English, I'm saying that this

is my story, but not my characters, settings, etc. That's all Disney/SIP stuff.

"Request"

---

"You're sure batting a thousand today, aren't you?" Elyon asked as she and Cornelia walked home from the local donut shop.

"I swear he was there last week", her friend replied. "He was dark-haired and always wore khakis..."

"Of course." Elyon flipped her hand dismissively. "And I got a letter in the mail inviting me to tea with the queen of England."

"Oh come on... you don't have to be like that."

"I guess not. But seriously, what did you end up doing?"

Cornelia cringed inside. She'd told Elyon that she'd gone home after visiting the book store the previous day, which of course wasn't true, but telling the truth - that the adorable guy in charge of the store was actually Cedric the snake-man of Meridian and that she herself was a magical guardian of the barrier between that world and Earth - was right out. She regretted it right away, though, not only because she was lying to her best friend since childhood, but also because even though she didn't exactly put a lot of effort into her story, she couldn't change it without being suspicious. And she'd be lucky if Elyon ever forgave her for it.

"You gave him your number, didn't you?" Elyon said with a sly grin.

"What?" The sudden return to reality left her blank for a moment.

"Mr. wonderful at the store, of course. With those dark, mysterious eyes..." Elyon wiggled her fingers in front of her face. "You gave him your number and ran home to wait, right?"

"Elyon! He's like thirty!"

"...and therefore he can't be cute?"

This was not good - there had to be some way to steer the conversation away from the disguised servant of Phobos. "He was eye-candy at first. I talked to him some more later, and he got creepy really fast." Cornelia crossed her arms over her chest. "He started looking at me... weird. Like he was staring right through my head at the wall." She gave a shiver for effect. Cedric certainly did give her the creeps, so it wasn't hard.

"Seriously? Eww! No wonder you bailed." Elyon made a face, then paused. "He had this tone that was weird too, like he was thinking about something else the whole time we were there, didn't he?"

"Exactly." Inside Cornelia sighed with relief. "So, am I forgiven?"

"I suppose maybe." Elyon grinned. "But I'd say you owe me something. Like, say, loaning me that cute red skirt of yours for the next week."

"Um, hello? Blue is this month's hot color, you know."

"Oh, right...!" Elyon's eyes widened. How could she have forgotten that? "Better idea. We hit the mall, you help me pick out something new, and all's forgiven. Deal?"

"Deal."

---


	2. Chapter 2

An hour later, the duo was casing store windows and racks. Everything from chiffon to linen, lace to suede, cotton to silk, corduroy to nylon met their expert eyes. Sizes were checked, colors coordinated, trends observed, old styles mocked, and fitting rooms visited. After another hour, though, no conclusion was reached, and so with a few catalogues picked up without charge from storefront displays, the two girls headed back to Elyon's house to plot and plan for another such outing when the time was right. To that effect they sprawled out across the bedroom floor amid their swag, and prepared to pass the time until dinner.

"I still think this sweater is perfect for you", Elyon said as she indicated an open page. "The V-neck is just the accent it needs."

"Yeah, if you forget that V-necks are summer clothes. Three months ago sure, but these days no way." Cornelia pointed to a page of her own. "Look at this... fleece hoodies are more like it. Functional and stylish in their simplicity."

"For most people, sure. But I wouldn't be caught dead in one of those. Elyon's rule number one: no outerwear that doesn't go to the knees."

"Are you serious? When did that rule come up?"

"Last month, when Cheryl DuBrowne wore that pink raincoat."

"The one with the white dots around the bottom?"

Elyon nodded. "When I saw that, I swore off anything that even vaguely looked like it."

"Guess I can't blame you for that one."

The next twenty-odd minutes were quiet as both girls flipped pages, until Elyon turned to her friend. "Cornelia?"

"Hmm?"

"I need to ask you something important."

"If you're talking about those sandals on that page, it's definitely a 'no'."

The younger girl shook her head. "Not about that." She rose from the floor and sat on her bed. "Something more serious than clothes."

Cornelia looked quizzical for a moment, but then followed suit. "Well then, what is it?"

Elyon hesitated a moment before speaking. "Would you kiss him? Y'know, Rick from the bookstore? If he wasn't all creepy, I mean."

Normally Cornelia would have wondered why Elyon's face looked so serious at that moment, rather than bearing the sly smile that usually accompanied a question like that. Unfortunately she was a bit too distracted by the image of sharing a lip-lock with a monstrous snake, and she reflexively responded with a revolted "No way!"

Her friend started at the strong reaction. "Are you sure? He is cute..."

Cornelia wanted desperately to tell Elyon exactly why nobody would ever want to kiss 'Rick', but with all the things that would entail, it just wasn't in the cards. It was time for a different strategy. "It's just... he's too old. It'd be like kissing your dad."

A sour look on Elyon's face clearly said that the tactic had worked. "Okay then, how about Jimmy Dinkirk?"

"That guy who sits in the front of the room in Math?"

"Yeah, him. He's not bad-looking."

"Still a 'no'. Sitting in the front of a class means you like it, and anyone who likes Math can't possibly be worth it." Elyon seemed to be getting at something, but just what it was was a mystery thus far. Best to play along, then, until she got the main point.

"Okay then, suppose you talked to him for a while and it turned out he was interested in fashion. Suppose he would go shopping and help you pick stuff out, like we did earlier." Elyon made an interrogative shrug. "What about then?"

"A guy who cares about clothes?" Cornelia sniffed. "You'd have an easier time finding birds under the ocean."

"I know, I know. But I'm saying what if?"

"Okay... assuming that he had an eye for color coordinating and knew his designers, and he could spot a bad outfit combination right away, then I'd say he might be date material."

"Okay. So then, would you kiss a guy who was your friend first? Like, someone you knew for a while and then went out with once or twice?" This time the sly smile made an appearance. "...like that Caleb guy?"

Years of practicing her poise allowed Cornelia to both recognize and sidestep the blush that tried to rise. "Oh come on... Caleb's not a bad guy, but look at him - he's too gruff and has about as much concept of politeness as he has of that 'quantum physics' stuff." Which of course was probably because he's spent most of his life fighting Phobos, she thought to herself. But still... "Not to mention he wears nothing but earth-tones all the time."

"But he looks good in them, doesn't he?"

"Well, yeah." The guardian had to concede it - Caleb looked disheveled most of the time and combed his hair maybe once a week, but somehow it looked right for him. Like he was an actor td disheveled most of the time and combed his hair mad disheveled most of the time and combed his hair maybe once a week, but somehow it looked right for him. Like he was an actor tat being the case, then, there was no point in dragging things out any longer. Time to do or die. "Okay, okay, big question. Would you kiss me?"

So that was the point of the twenty-questions game. However, not unlike winning a lifetime supply of sponges in the lottery, it wasn't the end result Cornelia had expected. "Elyon, why would I do that?"

If the ending question as a cake of a surprise, Elyon's look as she replied was the icing on it; plain with an undertone of... could it have been anxiety? "Well, maybe because I want you to?"

---


	3. Chapter 3

"Wait a sec..." Cornelia looked quizzical. "You want me to what?"

Elyon looked right into her eyes. "I want you to kiss me. Y'know, like, on the lips."

"But why?" It had to be a joke. It just had to be. But that look in the younger girl's eyes said different. It wasn't sincerity that she saw per se, but there was a longing in there somewhere that just couldn't be false.

"Because I'm curious and I want to know what it's like." Elyon's face took on a forlorn cast, and she shifted from a sitting to a kneeling position. "I mean, really, think about it... I'm twelve. It's going to be years before I can even go on my first date!" She looked down and away. "Every day I have to sit by and stare at all the cuties at school and listen to all the other girls talk about how wonderful it is to go on dates, how nice it is to be kissed, just sitting there and wondering about it because no one would want to do it with me. I want to know how it feels to be wanted, y'know? To have someone like me because I'm pretty. Someone to see that I'm a girl with feelings and not just a little kid living completely in the background."

Cornelia sat in silence for a moment, torn between the strangeness of the request and the look of longing on her friend's face.

"Please...?" Elyon crawled a few inches closer. "I've been thinking about this for weeks, and I just know if there's anyone who would help me, anyone who would care enough to show me what it's like to be appreciated for my looks and my feelings, it's my best friend in the world..." she reached up and touched Cornelia's cheek. "...and the prettiest girl in school."

There was a pause, during which the guardian weighed things in her mind. On the one hand, this sort of thing was not what people were supposed to do. Like wearing white after Memorial Day or making any sort of reference to anything that was on television more than three months ago. Then again, wasn't this part of what it meant to be a friend? To do whatever was needed to help? In her younger years, even Cornelia Hale, most popular girl in history (or so she would like to think) had sat on the sidelines of life at some point or another. In that light, anything she could do to alleviate the feeling of being on the outside looking in seemed like a favorable idea. But what about... kissing another girl? That was pretty strange stuff there, regardless of any other factors. 'Though it's not as strange as some of the other stuff we have to go through these days', she told herself silently. Of course, Elyon was a pretty girl, and anyone who didn't see that was a definite dip. With her flaxen hair in a braid like it was, light hued and glassy-smooth skin, and those innocent eyes, she was the very picture of cuteness. Ignoring that, however, they were both girls, and that wasn't exactly something they could reconcile.

...or was it? Okay, so it seemed strange at first. But then, how strange was it to spontaneously grow fairy-like wings whenever she transformed? How weird was it to be able to summon up a horde of ensnaring plant roots from the ground? If she saw someone else do that without understanding the whole 'guardian' thing, wouldn't she think it was creepy as all get-out? Naturally she knew it wasn't, but of course, that was from her perspective. There was cheese on pizza, too - when she was a little girl the stringy white ooze made her gag, but in later years she learned how to deal with it and appreciate the flavor despite the outward appearance. So maybe, just maybe, something else that seemed creepy would turn out not to be if she just gave it a chance.

The silence stretched, and that look in Elyon's eyes started to show a little more worry than curiosity, but after a moment the older girl closed her eyes and sighed. "Oh, you poor thing... I remember exactly what that feels like. It's like being alone in the middle of a crowd." She took Elyon's outstretched hand in her own and held it. "Like being an outsider."

"Like a loser."

"No!" Cornelia's response was almost reflexive, and with her free hand she gently gripped her friend's chin. "You are not a loser. You're my friend, and no friend of mine can be a loser." She smiled. "Not with me here to help you out when you're down."

Elyon's eyes practically sparkled. "So... you'll do it?"

"Hey, what kind of best friend would I be if I let you go on feeling that way? And that sweet little face of yours just doesn't look right with worry written across it."

Elyon bowled her over with a hug, and her head hit the pillows with a 'whump'. "You", the younger girl said with emphasis on each word, "are the best."

"Yeah, I know."

"So", Elyon said in a hushed voice as her face hovered above her friend's with narrowed eyes and a grin that would have made Cedric proud, "any time you're ready."

Cornelia was ready indeed, and proved it by wrapping her arms around Elyon and drawing their bodies together, producing a short gasp from her friend. "Remember to close your eyes", she whispered. Had there been another second for it she would have received a confirming nod, but no such second existed before their lips met.

The seconds that followed were uninterrupted while the older girl was treated to a delicious sensation of warmth that started somewhere around the middle of her chest and worked its way outward. It was a very new sort of feeling; it reminded her of the other kisses she'd had from dates in the past, but there was something more to it that she couldn't quite describe. A delightful revelation came in the form of realizing that it had something to do with the feelings she had for the girl whose weight now half-rested on her; there was something about the bond between them that lent a great deal of comfort to the situation, where it might otherwise have been strange. Having thought of that, she realized that feelings aside, that very weight did add something special to it. Something delightfully sensual, something that tempted her to maintain the close contact. She could feel her cheeks flushing, which wasn't unexpected, and something told her that she knew what to do next...

It really was a wonderful feeling, Elyon thought to herself. It was so warm, so soft... given the choice she certainly would not have waited another two years at the least for this. Cornelia had such a nice figure - the kind she herself wanted to have one day. It actually felt quite nice to be pressed against her like that, where she was absolutely sure that each could feel the other's heartbeat (which perhaps naturally was through the roof in both of their cases). Now though, if she recalled what she'd read in a magazine article a few weeks ago, the thing to do was return the hug, and...

As best friends so often seem to do, both of the girls reached the same conclusion at the same moment; they opened their mouths just the merest fraction of an inch so that their tongue-tips could touch, at which point the silence was broken by Elyon sighing deeply and relaxing completely into Cornelia's embrace. It felt so perfect, so pleasant to be there like that that she didn't even think before threading her fingers through her older friend's hair, relishing how the softness of it felt when added to everything else.

A long moment later Elyon put her hands back down on the bed and lifted herself, and both girls spent a few seconds catching breath.

"Satisfied?" Cornelia asked with a smile.

"Wow", Elyon responded with a smile that clearly indicated that part of her mind was somewhere else. "Just... wow."

"Yeah, Me too." There was a pause as the blonde guardian considered a newly-arisen impulse, one she would never have expected. "Erm... Want to do it again?"

"Really?"

"Well, if you didn't enjoy it that much..."

Elyon lowered her head to one of her pillows, placed her hands on Cornelia's shoulders, and gently pulled her closer. "What do you think?"

"I think that's totally a yes", the other girl replied as she let herself be drawn into a second kiss that, she decided after another eight-to-ten seconds, was every bit as good as the first. She mimicked Elyon's previous action, resting most of her weight on her elbows while twining her fingers into her friend's soft hair. She understood right away why the younger girl had done it; there was just something about the sensation added to everything else that made it feel perfect; almost like she was feeding a new kind of hunger, a craving for physical contact.

It was a good few minutes before they parted. Elyon shifted to a sitting position, and Cornelia followed suit. "That... was... heh!" She got a spontaneous smile and flopped over sideways giggling.

"Hey, what's so funny?" Cornelia asked. It was no use; another solid minute of laughter had to pass before she got any kind of coherent response.

"Heh heh hee... Hey, Cornelia?" Tears of mirth welled in Elyon's eyes. "Wanna be my girlfriend?"

Anyone else privy to the moment might have wondered how Cornelia's resulting look didn't send Elyon into renewed peals of laughter, but somehow it didn't.

"WHAT!"

"Because I bet I could search everywhere in the world and never, ever find a guy who can kiss like that!"

She would later reflect that it hadn't been that funny, but with the atmosphere as it was Cornelia just joined right in with her friend. The two of them spent the next few minutes flat on their backs laughing.

"Hey, Elyon?"

"Huh?"

"GRAPEFRUIT!"

A good twenty-or-so more minutes passed that way, with random utterances renewing the laughter until both their cheeks ached. At that point they finally made an effort to calm down, and the laughs died away into chuckles interspersed with deep breaths.

---


	4. Chapter 4

Dinner came and went, and after enjoying twice-baked potatoes and broiled chicken both girls returned to Elyon's room and returned to sitting on the floor while paging through the new catalogues.

"So how about these?" Elyon asked as she indicated a picture of a few earth-tone sweaters.

"Well, maybe... but you'd have to have just the right pants to go with them or no way." Cornelia scanned more of the page. "These, for instance," she said as she indicated a few pairs of the same, "would be perfect."

"Do you think I'm a hunter green?" The younger girl flipped a few pages. "Or more of a burgundy?"

"Nah, it'd have to be pastels for you." She stared at Elyon for a moment. "Yep, definitely powder blue. Maybe robin-egg. Like this." She held up a page from another catalogue.

"Oh, that does look nice! Now if it was just a little longer, huh?"

"Yeah."

A few more moments passed before Elyon spoke again. "Cornelia?"

"Hmm?"

"Thanks again." She smiled. "Y'know, for..."

"Oh." Cornelia smiled. "Believe me, you're more than welcome." If she noticed the not-quite-irony of the whole thing - that helping her friend experience something new had introduced her to something new as well - she left it unmentioned.

"It was really nice..."

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing."

"You think maybe we might... y'know..." Elyon got a slight blush.

"Do it again?" Cornelia smirked in return. "I suppose maybe, if you twist my arm hard enough."

"How about if I promise to lend you that silk vest that you love for a while? Y'know, the white one with the extra pockets?"

"Hey, there's no 'bribe' in 'best friend'."

"Actually, if you shift the letters around, there kind of..."

Within the next half-second, Cornelia decided that stopping that statement mid-way through was better then holding out for the vest, much to Elyon's delight.

END.


End file.
